Jotham79

My keyboard is fubar so I can only post when I can barrow one. I am working things differently than most Thais do for my quail I got into this (again) to have a low cholesterol meat and the eggs do not have any of the bad cholesterol. It is the same reason I am doing rabbits. I am raising meat birds that with give me a profit on eggs. So far I have about half the layers I want and have just started selecting breeders. From each batch I select 2-4 of the largest girls and 1-2 largest boys at 4 weeks. I raise in cages with only one level and they have over 200 square cm per bird space. I mix my own feed so my male birds are organic ( I do not medicate or vaccinate any of my birds including my chickens). I have done a couple of samples and I get about 3.8 FCR to 5 weeks, my layers eat about 26 grams a day, they lay around 85-88 %, and their eggs run a hair over 12 grams (I weighed 114 egs today that did 12.28 grams). Because of their size they mature more slowly and I usually see the first eggs in week 7. This should give you an idea of my stock and I would like to hear the specks on your birds as well. PM me if you want to try to get a batch of eggs.

Thanks for the reply good info on the X-ray problem would you be interested in selling me a dozen or so fertile eggs

Where are you based ?

I need to weigh my layers to see if I'm near your 300 g but your 170 grams at 49 days is impressive

No problem with the feed I can improve on the 22 % I'm feeding now with live mealworms I'm experimenting with now

Look forward to your reply thank you Steve

I just lost a long post before I could send so here is a short version. PM me for shipping and payment. I would like to hear details about your operation like fcr layer production, anything you might do different...... The Thai postal system is not gentle so picking up live birds is a safer bet, but I am in Petchabun so that is probably too far.

Hi,

I would like to network with anyone else in/near Petchabun raising and selling poultry and/or rabbits. I currently produce pureblood Rhode Island Reds, White Leghorns, Sam Saipan, and crosses. I am working on Barred Rocks. I also have Jumbo Brown Quail and New Zealand Rabbits. I do sell eggs and surplus chicks as well as dressed quail and rabbits. I would like to hear from anyone else involved around here.

Thanks,

As far as I know, I am the only one in Thailand with "Jumbo" quail. I would think that XLD1 quail would be 25% larger and my jumbos more than that. My layers average 300 grams and I just slaughtered a batch of males that were 49 days old and they averaged 170 grams dressed, however if you do not have a high protien (29%) grower feed you will probably not achieve this. Shipping does present a big problem, but I don't think it would be x-rays and I use eggs for up to 8 days for hatching. I have maled and received my mail eggs in Thailand and the take a beating and the hatch rate is low. I am still building my layer flock, I have 200 out of 400 layers I want. And I have just started my selective breeding program. PM me for more info.

Why not use solar power ? Pressurized water, lights, the internet and a hot shower do not have to be a luxury. Buffalo can substitute for tractors and the farms are small anyway. Getting around might be a problem without a vehicle.

I do not think anyone wants to live in the Thailand of 40 years ago.

The thing is though, people are pretty much living as you describe, AND working their butts off. I just see there is an option to live with about the same quality of life without the hard work. It will still be hard work, but you will be working to support only yourself.

If you think this is such a good idea, why don't you do it? Your presumptions would carry alot more weight if you could say from experience how much better your life is. I don't think there would be anything like a similar quality of life. My BIL lived out on my farm for about 10 years with only a small solar panel for electricity and a tractor and kwai lek for farming and pumping water. I promise you his life is better now that there is power out there.

At the end of the day the Thais are just like us, they don't want there children to have to work as hard as we did, which means paying for an education and that means using your resources in the most productive way.

You can rig a couple of lights over the pond and let them feed on the bugs. You can also feed fine rice polishings ( not the medium) by just throwing the powder out over the water and let them filter feed the powder of the surface. I would only try a small amout of land snails at first to see how it goes and would prefer to use freshwater snails. You can get leaves from cabbage, coliflower, brocolli,,,,,,ect but make sure you don't over do it (you can mess up your water) and and see that you rinse the leaves first. I was getting large baskets of leaves from the market and ended up killing about 100 of my pla nin.

Mate, did we meet at an Isaan Farmers Meeting?

I've only ever been to one which was held at Cl Packdee's place.

I haven't been lucky enough to make it to one. Untill 4 months ago, I was away alot and most of the the meetings are too far away. I would have loved to seen Cl Packdees set up. Now I have the quail and chickens it will be difficult to get away.

thanks for the reply ..if my maths is correct you used 45 bags x 30 kg = 1350kg @approx 600 baht each = 27,000 baht ...

5000 fish @ 1 kg =5000 kg @ 50baht/kilo = 250,000 baht ...deduct 27,000 baht in feed = 223,000 baht profit ...

now i dont know what size your fish are now at average weight, but those numbers stack up very nicely if they are 1kg ..the only variable is how many fish of the 5000 u still have alive and then of course average weight ..... can you let me know those numbers ? avg weight and estimate of how many left living?

cheers

He is selling fish that are between 200 and 250 grams and he sold 300 kg so he sold between 1200 and 1500 fish leaving around 3500. BTW, a 1kg pla duk would be difficult to sell in volume.

A question for the OP; How did you get 30 kg bags of comercial fish feed? Everything around here comes in 20 kg bags Also you could feed cracked corn , but you should soak it for a few days or boil it.

You can rig a couple of lights over the pond and let them feed on the bugs. You can also feed fine rice polishings ( not the medium) by just throwing the powder out over the water and let them filter feed the powder of the surface. I would only try a small amout of land snails at first to see how it goes and would prefer to use freshwater snails. You can get leaves from cabbage, coliflower, brocolli,,,,,,ect but make sure you don't over do it (you can mess up your water) and and see that you rinse the leaves first. I was getting large baskets of leaves from the market and ended up killing about 100 of my pla nin.

I'll be paying 12 baht each for the chicks. (Asked the price of 3 blood chicks from a local feed and farm stock shop - 45 baht each!)

Can't read Thai so don't know brand of feed but price 510 for starter feed and 500 baht from one month onwards (per sack).

He reckons 3 sacks per 100 birds per month. So at around 2 months the cost for 300 is 9090 baht. Add the birds at 3600 baht, basic cost is 12690 baht.

Looking at his last 150 bird sale after approximately 2 months, 'assuming' 1.5 kilos per bird at 70 baht a kilo, he did well.

So the fcr is 1.2 by commercial feed

For price of 70 baht is a very good price.we can sell at 5 0baht per kg only under normal situation

Currently I only have 300 broiler purchase at 100 baht per kg .is it the correct price?

So anyone know the fcr by commercial feed for broiler please advise

His FCR was not 1.2 and he is not raising broilers, but a gai ban and layer cross. If you search you will find that most broiler houses will get just under 2 for a fcr. I have heard as low as 1.5 under good circumstances. If you are formulating your own feed I would be happy with a fcr between 2 and 2.2. I don't understand what you are saying about "300 broilers purchased at 100 baht per kg". If you are not working with CP or one of the other big boys you may have problems selling 300 broilers, please let us know how this goes.

good luck

Gai Ban the fatal rate is very high.It is always less than a kg

Rear anything must let then growth as fast as possible and sell as fast as possible unless the feed is very low

Usually about once a year there is a big die off of gai ban. This year it wasn't as bad as usual. Coccidiosis is just part of having poultry and is impossible to prevent altogether unless your birds are raised on wire. It can be controlled with diatomaceous earth. What happens is that the chickens will be running around and doing ok with coccidiosis and the the bug comes around and really hammers your flock. The worst of the bugs is called kee kao (white poo) and will take 80% of a flock. Treatment after the fact is difficult and not very effective. Prevention comes with treating your yard with DE, treating your birds about every 90 days, make sure you birds are well nurished and make sure their water is clean and fresh(often not done for gai ban). Trying to keep pure gai ban fed well is a sure money loser(so they are rarely well fed when the bug strikes), but can be done if you are raising crosses.

Pure gai ban will usually get to 1.8 to 2 kg for females and 2.2-3 kg for males, but this takes a really long time and with a very poor feed conversion ratio. I've tried vaccines and can not see a difference so I do not vaccinate any more. I do cull without mercy and I do not use rice hulls as I feel they do more harm than good.

There will always be someone around that can get you a small quantity of layers, broilers, or ducks, but in my are this tends to be very hit or miss. If you are going to do any sort of volume, you need your own breeders.

This has been a long time coming and I am glad it has started, Only 3 for the first litter, we'll see how she does again in a couple of months.

I have a young doe and buck and they will be ready in a couple of more months and then I can start building my breeders

If you will just do a quick search you will see this had been covered

Yes but any guessing how much is this ting wort? I saw a post at alibaba.com from a thai timber seller. Price was from 2000 to 2500 $ for 1 cubic meter for pradoo wood. I highly doubt that this is the Thai Price. My guess is that it is about2 cubic meter of wood what the neighbor cutted of.

There should be someone in your area buying stands of teak. Find there shop (processing center) and price a bundle of teak boards and figure a cubic meter price. Now take that number and divide by 3 and you will have a rough price. Ignore any and all retail prices for lumber. You will be shocked at how little the farm gate price of lumber is. alternatively you could go to any lumber store and price out the same volume of any common lumber and divide by 5. I have a topic about selling my teak about a year ago, check it out.

It won't be worth less than teak and a lot less that you would think, which I know is not a solid answer. Technically you are supposed to get a permit to cut these trees just like teak, but if it is for your own use and you are not moving the lumber very far, a blind eye is turned. At this point the tree is cut. If it were me, I would ask for 1/2 of the wood and call it a day. Then involve the poo yai and make sure the property lines are clear and no more trees are cut. The alternative would be to call the police or go to the poo yai and accuse him of theft (maybe report him to the forestry dept) and god only knows what happens from there.

Good luck

I haven't been in touch with him for a few months and for a year before that is was getting difficult to reach him. I am in Petchabun and have chicks and eggs for White Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, Sam Saipan, and Jumbo Brown Quail. Working on Barred rocks and large breed rabbits.

Our Banana Jungle

I counted 32 this morning from emerging pods

To not far from being ready for sale (we have sold three already and they do take them before they start to turn yellow)

hi ron,,

did i spot a couple of lamyai in there, or something very similer,??

They look a little like Maprang (Mariam plum). We planted bananas around ours to give them a bit of protection until they got established

I have heard that you can make a tiny hole in an egg and inject the poison. Cover the hole with a small bit of mud. The problem with this is that you are not certain who or what is stealing your eggs and poison is very indiscriminate. You could also get a gill net from a fishing supply store and put it around your coop. Your chooks should be able to fly over. Make the mesh small enough to prevent an egg from passing through so the snake may enter, but won't be able to leave.

yes

I've been doing really well with worms, both with a float and on the bottom. The Styrofoam balls get the hooks to float above the bait ball and the get sucked in while the fish are feeding. I don't see Thais using the multi hook and spring rig if they are targeting tilapia, it is used often for the larger catfish and carp.

Most of the garden shops around here have compost made from either chicken litter (manure and rice hulls) or pig manure and coconut husks. Sometimes it is old corn cobs. Either of the first 2 sound really good, but I find I need to fertilize anyway. I go to a seed store and ask for "Pwee Keow". It is a greenish color granulated water soluble fertilizer. Just dissolve some and water. I just got a 1kg bag for 35 baht.

Potatoes are grown up in the hills around here (with great drainage) and Chiang Mai area should be no different. If Irish potatoes don't work, there are a dozen types of yams or cassava to try.

Make chick starter and grower

Soybean should around 15 baht and corn 8baht

But it will vary with market price

About 50km from our area grow a lot of corn

You have to make assumptions about protein content and then use a weighted average. I will give you an example:

Assume corn with a 10% protein content and soy bean meal at 44%. If you put 4 kg of corn (4 x 10%) and 1 kg of SBM (1 x 44%) you add the products and divide by the total number of kg.....40 + 44 = 84.......84/4 = 21% protein. Multiply the price of each commodity by the weight and add and then divide by the total weight to get the price per kg. For me it would b 10 baht per kg for corn or 4 x 10 bath and 22 baht for SBM so I would have 40 + 22 = 62.....62/4 = 15.5 baht per kg. Like I said I have a spreadsheet I use and I don't just use corn and SBM because I want to control the fat content and vitamins. 15 baht per kg is very very low for SBM. If you buy raw soy beans you must cook them before feeding them to your chickens. I buy 70 kg of SBM from a dairy co-op for 1,540 baht per bag. The corn you buy will need to be milled.

Our area can obtain soybean and corn at farm gate price so i want to use it as the base to make the feed for the chicken. anyone has any detail % of components to add to get a good feed?

Do you want to make chick starter, grower or layer? PM me and I can send you an excel spreadsheet. BTW, are you talking about raw soybeans or soybean meal? What are your farm-gate prices?

Just type in Tomatoes in the search place in the upper right hand corner. I got this http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=7ba608ae72e917c0abea0ee8ab3c5e2d&app=googlecse#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=tomatoes I don't know if you can just go to this link. I trans plant when they are around 15 cm. Also, there are a ton of vids on u-tube.

Never ate quail or quail egg, but just want to comment on an interesting thread.

I'm assuming your predator was a dog?

Good luck with your enterprise, look forward to reading more.

Edit: do you find it difficult to find a market, particularly for the meat? Just that in my little corner of Thailand (khon kaen area), I've never seen it nor heard of it for sale.

There are a couple of people that sell eggs in the market (bags of 50 or 100 speckled eggs) and occasionally you will see someone selling little fried eggs. We sell some boiled (8 for 10) baht but we never had a problem selling eggs before. There is no bad cholesterol in quail eggs and the meat is very low in cholesterol. My wife will go to the market with 15 or so dressed quail and can usually sell those. I eat several every week. Eventually, we will start getting people to stop by and purchase some. If you saw Thai quail in the market, you might not recognize them as they are very small. You might also see them at a food stall in a night market where they have frogs, quail, fish....to cook.